Reading and meditation on Chapter 5 of the Letter to the Romans:
This chapter is rich in information revealing the origin and consequences of sin, and how God made provision to save the lives of all humanity by sacrificing His Son:
“Therefore, now that we have been declared righteous as a result of faith, let us enjoy peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we also have obtained access by faith into this undeserved kindness in which we now stand; and let us rejoice, based on hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but let us rejoice while in tribulations, since we know that tribulation produces endurance; 4 endurance, in turn, an approved condition; the approved condition, in turn, hope, 5 and the hope does not lead to disappointment; because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the holy spirit, which was given to us” (verses 1-5).
To rejoice in hope means having strong faith and taking pride in that hope—rejoicing that God sets it before us as a sure guarantee, for He never lies, to help us overcome our trials: « Is based on a hope of the everlasting life that God, who cannot lie, promised long ago » (Titus 1:2).
“For, indeed, while we were still weak, Christ died for ungodly men at the appointed time. 7 For hardly would anyone die for a righteous man; though perhaps for a good man someone may dare to die. 8 But God recommends his own love to us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more, then, since we have now been declared righteous by his blood, will we be saved through him from wrath. 10 For if when we were enemies we became reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more we will be saved by his life, now that we have become reconciled. 11 Not only that, but we are also rejoicing in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation” (verses 6-11).
Paul clearly explains how God, the heavenly Father, is the One who loved humanity first. This love is all the more sublime in that He gave what was dearest to Him—His beloved Son—for an ungodly humanity that did not love Him. This idea is also found in the Gospel of John, in a very well-known passage: « For God loved the world so much that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone exercising faith in him might not be destroyed but have everlasting life » (John 3:16).
“That is why, just as through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because they had all sinned—. 13 For sin was in the world before the Law, but sin is not charged against anyone when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless, death ruled as king from Adam down to Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the same way that Adam transgressed, who bears a resemblance to the one who was to come” (verses 12-14).
Sin is a generic biblical expression of that which no longer fulfills impersonally (without feeling) the criteria of God’s Holiness and therefore is a process which leads to the programmed demise of creation afflicted with sin (which is no longer holy from God’s point of view). We can get a much more concrete idea of the alternation between what is considered « holy », and by contrast what is no longer « holy », being a sin, from God’s point of view, by reading the book of Leviticus. It is very important to understand for the rest of the explanations, that this quality is absolutely not linked to the feelings of God, but rather to what constitutes the essence of his actions and his creation. The disappearance of sin is done by atonement, in order to satisfy the criteria of divine holiness. The Holiness of God is directly connected to a constant need of sacrifice for atonement which erases sin, or of what is not in conformity with the divine and everlasting standards of what is holy: « You must be holy, because I am holy » (Leviticus 11:44,45).
In verse 12, the Apostle Paul speaks of the process of death—which begins at birth, or even at conception, like a countdown—because the mortal gene of sin is programmed into our bodies. He writes that death reigned from Adam to Moses, likely because, during that period, God allowed the situation to persist without offering a glimpse of hope. After the coming of Moses, God made provisions for the salvation of humanity, the creation of a nation and a people, and, later, the coming of the Messiah.
Before Moses—apart from Adam’s sin—the general concept of sin could not be defined in legal terms, as Paul writes: « Sin is not charged against anyone when there is no law » (verse 13). It was the Mosaic Law that brought the sinful human’s transgression to light before God: « In reality the Law produces wrath, but where there is no law, neither is there any transgression » (Romans 4:15).
“But the gift is not like the trespass. For if by one man’s trespass many died, how much more did the undeserved kindness of God and his free gift by the undeserved kindness of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound to many! 16 Also, it is not the same with the free gift as with the way things worked through the one man who sinned. For the judgment after one trespass was condemnation, but the gift after many trespasses was a declaration of righteousness. 17 For if by the trespass of the one man death ruled as king through that one, how much more will those who receive the abundance of the undeserved kindness and of the free gift of righteousness rule as kings in life through the one person, Jesus Christ!” (verses 15-17).
But the gift is not like the trespass(verse 15): the trespass represents Adam, who spread death to his descendants. The gift is Jesus Christ, who causes life to abound through His sacrifice. This gift results not only in the forgiveness of sins but also in the ability to stand righteous before God, despite our sinful condition: « The gift after many trespasses was a declaration of righteousness ». Verse 17 clearly explains how one man, Jesus Christ, can spread life to all humanity, just as—conversely—one man, Adam, spread death (verse 12). This is what the Apostle Paul writes in the conclusion of Chapter 5:
“So, then, as through one trespass the result to men of all sorts was condemnation, so too through one act of justification the result to men of all sorts is their being declared righteous for life. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one person many will be made righteous. 20 Now the Law came on the scene so that trespassing might increase. But where sin abounded, undeserved kindness abounded still more. 21 To what end? So that just as sin ruled as king with death, so also undeserved kindness might rule as king through righteousness leading to everlasting life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (verses 18-21).
The Mosaic Law defined the concept of sin and the sentence of death: « The Law came on the scene so that trespassing might increase » (verse 20). Undeserved kindness, through the gift of Jesus Christ, causes righteousness and the possibility of everlasting life to abound for each of us (verse 21).
Sin is a generic biblical expression of that which no longer fulfills impersonally (without feeling) the criteria of God’s Holiness…
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The chapter-by-chapter commentaries on the Epistle to the Romans will not follow a linear approach (such as a verse-by-verse study); instead, they will focus on key points emerging from the chapter under discussion…
When we read the Letter of James, it is surprising to see the likeness of his way of teaching, with that of his older brother Jesus. He uses many illustrations as Jesus did…
The purpose of the letter of Jude is to warn against the infiltration in the Christian congregation, of individuals with twisted behaviors perverting the spiritual purity required by God and his Son Jesus Christ…
John is one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ. He is also the writer one of the Gospel which bears his name and as well as the book of Apocalypse or Revelation…
Peter is one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ. In the Gospels, he also has the name of Simon Peter (Matthew 4:18) and Jesus Christ gave him another name, Cephas (John 1:42). Among the twelve, he was one of the three closest apostles of Jesus Christ: Peter, James and John his brother. These three men saw the transfiguration of Christ (Mark 9:1-10).
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Table of contents of the http://yomelyah.fr/ website
Reading the Bible daily, this table of contents contains informative Bible articles (Please click on the link above to view it)…
Table of languages of more than seventy languages, with six important biblical articles, written in each of these languages…
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